A Head Start
by RaginRhino
Summary: What if Bell started his adventure in the Loki Familia? BellxAis story
1. Chapter 1

**Simple BellxAis thing I've been wanting to do for a little bit. I've written other stuff before on separate accounts that was well received, but I've decided to stick with this account. Make sure to leave a review telling me what you thought! Criticism is appreciated. Have a nice day!**

Orario.

The city above the dungeon.

A place where legends are born.

People of all kinds, whether it be dwarves, elves, or humans, flocked to this prosperous land for many different reasons.

For a young adventurer, his reason for coming to Orario was because of the word of his grandfather:

"You can be a hero."

The only thing that Bell Cranel desired in life was to become a hero, just like the ones from the stories his grandfather would read him at night. Orario, the place where names such as the King or the Kenki arose from, was the greatest place to achieve his goal. There, he would become a hero without equal.

And he knew that the first step in order to achieve his goal was to get into a good Familia. He had done his research, and determined that the two best choices were either Loki or Freya. After much deliberation, he decided that he would rather be a member of the Loki Familia. He knew deep down that there wasn't a chance that they would accept some weakling like him into their ranks. He simply wasn't good enough to be in the best Familia in Orario.

But the risk was worth it. They were the best of the best.

And there he was, at the Loki Familia's castle, waiting behind the front gate. He had been standing there for a few minutes, not sure how to get someone's attention. Suddenly, he was noticed, and a pair of adventures came out to greet him. They were two Amazons, and they looked very similar.

They had beautiful bronze skin and slender waists. They weren't afraid to show some skin; their clothes were very traditionally Amazonian. The pair arrived at the gate.

"Hey little guy, did you get lost on your way home?" one of them teased. She had short hair and a cute smile. Bell felt a blush start to creep on his face. The other girl hit her on the head, and glared at her. The girl scratched the back of her head with a sheepish grin.

"Why have you come to visit us?" the other girl asked. She had long, pretty hair, and an ample sized chest.

"W-well, I was wondering if I could join your Familia," Bell said, fidgeting. The two girls bent down, and stared at him. Their faces were mere inches away, however the huge metal gate still separated them. Bell took a step back, and looked at them confusedly.

"He looks like a cute little bunny!" chortled the girl with the short hair. They opened the gate.

"Follow us! I'm Tiona, and this is my sister, Tione. We're two of the four Level 5 adventurers of this Familia!" Tiona said. Bell felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. He was in the presence of two Loki Familia executives!

They lead him into the majestic castle, and took him through many different hallways. Eventually, they arrived at their destination. They were standing in front of a large wooden door adorned with a golden frame. Tiona leapt into the air gracefully, did a flip, and brought her heel down on the door. It flew open with a bang, and she strolled in nonchalantly. Bell winced, but Tione just sighed in exasperation. She walked into Loki's room, and Bell came in hesitantly after her.

"Hey Loki, we found a bunny!" Tiona said.

"Huh?" Loki asked, looking up from whatever she was doing.

"What the idiot meant to say is that we found an aspiring adventurer that would like to join our Familia," Tione explained.

"Uh… yeah. I'm Bell Cranel, and I would like to become a member of the Loki Familia… please," Bell said awkwardly, bowing slightly.

"Yeah, whatever, now leave me alone!" Loki snapped. Bell looked at the two Amazons, worried. He didn't want to anger his future god in their first meeting.

"He needs a falna, Loki," Tione said.

"What? Oh, yeah. Take your shirt off and come over here," Loki said. Bell complied, and sat down in front of her. The two Amazons waited patiently.

Loki pricked her finger with a needle, and soon enough, she was done.

"Congratulations, you're now a part of the Loki Familia," Loki mumbled monotonously,

"Now leave and don't bother me again for the rest of the night!"

Bell leapt out of the seat in shock.

"Sorry for interrupting you!" Bell yelled, giving a quick bow.

He bolted out of the room, and the two Amazons followed. Tione shut the doors a lot more reasonably than they had been opened. She turned to Bell, who was breathing heavily with a pale face.

"Sorry about that. Loki must've been doing something really important when Tiona kicked the door open," Tione said, glaring at Tiona.

"Sorry, sorry," Tiona grinned, waving her hand in the air.

"Anyway, we'll show you to your room. Breakfast will be at 9, but Tiona and I are going to go to the dungeon," Tione said. They lead him through more intricate hallways, until they arrived at another door.

"This is your room," Tione said. Without warning, and with lightning fast precision, she poked Bell's arm with a needle. Blood welled up from the stab. Bell winced a little, but pretended it didn't hurt to try and impress the two upper class adventurers.

"Put your blood right where that black circle is. That will mark the room as yours. No one will be able to open the door except you. It's a cool enchantment that one of the executives, Riveria, came up with. If you have any questions, just go and find another member," Tione said.

The pair ran off down the hallway.

"Bye, bunny!" Tiona said, waving. Bell waved back, and turned to his new room. He tapped at the blood on his arm.

Bell touched his finger to the door, and a strange clown-like emblem spread across the door. Inside the emblem was his name. He opened the door, and cautiously peered inside.

The room was small and cozy. In the top left corner there was a single bed with a red silk blanket. One pillow adorned the top of the bed. On the back side of the room there was a window, with a desk in front of it. Sunlight pooled in from the open window, illuminating his room. He ran into the room, leapt on his new bed, and laid on his back. He heaved a huge sigh, and looked at the ceiling with a wide grin.

'_This is it' _Bell thought to himself, '_I've started my own adventure!'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, it's been a while. I just watched all of Danmachi season 2, and was reminded of this, so I decided to write the next chapter. My space key is missing, so typing is really hard. Anyway, here it is! Reviews are appreciated.**

**P.S: I really like Syr, so tell me your guys' opinions of her too! I kind of want to add some parts with her as well, but still keep the story BellxAis.**

He had done it.

Bell had been accepted into one of the best Familias of Orario! Although Bell was presumably accepted because of Loki's indifferent and distracted attitude this morning, he still viewed it as an accomplishment nonetheless. Make no mistake, though; he would prove that the decision was one she would not regret.

He was still on his bed. The window was cracked open, allowing the crisp dawn air to gently sway his hair. Laying there, he finally felt a sense of calm wash over him. He was in the Familia, and he could finally start working towards his goal. Having a clear path and knowing what came next was a major relief for the young adventurer. Before this, he had so many stressors to worry about, and they all seemingly went away when Loki put the falna on his back.

He grinned to himself, raising a fist into the air. He was determined to improve.

However, Bell had a busy day planned, so there wasn't a lot of time to be laying around. He slowly got up and stretched, a yawn escaping from his lips. He brushed his bangs to the side, and exited his room. Today, he was going to get his adventurer's equipment with the help of his newly-made friend and advisor from the Guild, Eina.

The hallway he had just entered had a dark wood floor with a long, narrow red carpet. His smile faltered a little as he looked down the seemingly endless hallway. He scratched the back of his head, looking around.

He was utterly lost. The Twilight Manor was massive, and he didn't know in the slightest how to get to the main entrance.

Although asking for help technically was an option, Bell knew he couldn't. He would be teased mercilessly by his fellow Familia members if he admitted he was lost. Instead, he would just wander around aimlessly until he knew where he was. Having a plan in mind, he set off through the manor. As he walked, he looked around the hallway; determined to memorize the manor's layout. After a lot of wrong turns, Bell finally found the main exit. He heaved a sigh of relief, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

He left the manor, and headed towards the guild. It was a nice day. The sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, and a gentle breeze blew through the town. There were little stands set up along the cobblestone path that sold various goods, mostly food. One of the stands along the road sold potato puffs. A vibrant young girl with long black hair was running the stand. She was getting a lot of business.

'_Maybe I should get something to eat,' _Bell contemplated. In the end, he decided against it; he was already late to meeting with Eina.

He ran the rest of the way to the Guild. It wasn't too far, and he arrived in a few minutes. Looking around, he saw Eina waiting on a bench. He waved at her, and she came over to him.

"Hello, Bell," she said.

"Hey Eina! Sorry I'm late. I got lost in the Twilight Manor because it's so big," he admitted, looking down at his shoes in embarrassment.

"You got into the Loki Familia?!" Eina said, surprised.

"Yeah," Bell said, scratching the back of his head.

"Awesome job!" she congratulated, giving him a high-five. "The objective for today is to get you ready to take on the Dungeon. We need to get you armor, weapons, and basic supplies. I know a place in Babel Tower that has reliable gear," she said.

Bell gawked at the tall tower.

"Their prices are ridiculous!" he objected.

"Trust me, I know a place," Eina assured. He reluctantly followed her.

There were adventurers all over the place, ready to start the daily grind in the dungeon. However, Bell was headed up, not down. Eina lead him to an elevator, and they both got on.

No one else was using the elevator currently as it was early in the day. Bell wasn't all that surprised to see that there were 50 buttons to choose on the elevator. The Babel Tower was tall after all. The button that Eina had pressed was strangely cleaner than the others. It was apparent it had not been used all that much.

"The shop we're going to isn't very well known. It's run by a man who used to be an adventurer of the Hera Familia. Essentially, the shop sells items the welders deemed to be failures," Eina said.

"Failures?" Bell asked incredulously.

"Welders hold themselves to incredibly high standards, though, so you can find very good builds for a really nice price," Eina explained.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Bell said. The elevator came to a halt, and they exited. They entered a shop which was dimly lit with torches, and had walls that were built with large stones.

Large wooden racks stood in aisles in the middle of the room. Metal buckets held pieces of armor, knives, and other such gear. On the left side, there was a desk. Behind the desk sat a man who was reading a book. He looked up, and smiled when he saw who was there.

"Eina? You haven't been here in a while," he greeted, waving a hand.

"Sorry, I've been really busy at the Guild. I have a new adventurer, though, and we need to get him supplies for his first trip to the Dungeon," Eina said, gesturing to Bell.

"Feel free to browse around. I've gotten a lot of donations from welders recently," the man said, returning to his book.

"Well, go look around and see if you can find anything that you like," instructed Eina. Bell wandered around the wooden shelves, shuffling through various boxes.

He moved a poorly made knife out of the way, to reveal a chestplate. He picked it up, and held it up to the light. It was surprisingly light, and seemed to be really well-made. He noticed a signature on the bottom: _Welf Crozzo._

"Oh, I see you've found a piece made by Mr. Crozzo. He holds himself to very high standards, so I often get great pieces from him," the man chuckled. Bell slipped the chestplate on. It felt comfortable and easy to move in.

"Yeah, I'll take this!" Bell announced. Eina came out from behind a shelf, and handed him a small dagger.

"This is the best weapon I could find. I think a knife-based fighting style would suit you best," Eina explained.

Bell observed the knife. It seemed pretty ordinary, but he knew that Eina would choose a good weapon.

"I'm sure that Loki will have a better knife for you when you improve, but for starting out, this knife should suffice," Eina said.

They brought the two items, as well as a few other pieces, to the front. The total came out to be 50,000 valis, which wasn't bad at all.

Bell reached for his wallet, but Eina had already given the man the money.

"Wait…" he objected.

"No, it's fine. This is guild-supplied money. There's a law in place that gives advisors 100,000 valis to use for a starting adventurer," explained Eina.

"Oh, I see…" Bell said. They packed the new goods into a burlap sack, and waved goodbye to the owner of the store. Once they were out of the Babel Tower, they started to walk through the streets.

"Well, I have to go back to the Guild, unfortunately. It was nice spending time with you," Eina smiled. She turned around, and started the journey back to the Guild.

Bell was determined to go the Dungeon as soon as possible. He had a Status and weapons. His stomach, however, grumbled its disapproval.

"Maybe I should eat first," Bell said to himself. There was a delicious scent wafting around the road he was currently on. He turned to his right, and noticed a restaurant, titled _Hostess of Fertility._

It was a small building, with a cat-shaped sign on the outside. He entered the restaurant, and was greeted with emptiness.

He looked around confusedly, and was noticed by a young girl with grey hair.

"Um, we aren't open yet," she said, looking at him.

"Oh, sorry! I just smelled food and thought you were open," Bell chuckled nervously.

"Oh, I'm sure it's fine. Mama Mia won't deny more customers. Feel free to take a seat anywhere you'd like. We cook our own lunch before opening up, so that's why it smells so nice," she explained, "I'm Syr, by the way. I'm a waitress here," she said, holding out her hand. Bell looked into her eyes, and she smiled gently back.

Bell shook her hand shyly, glancing away. '_She's really pretty,'_ admired Bell as he watched her return into the kitchen. He took a seat at a table, and soon, Syr came back out, holding a small box.

"Here, we had some leftovers from lunch, so feel free to take some!" Syr said, holding out the box to him.

"Wait, r-really?" Bell stuttered, his cheeks turning a little rosy.

"Yeah, it's fine. Plus, you seem to be ready to head out to the Dungeon. It's a bad idea to do that on an empty stomach!" advised Syr. Bell hesitantly took the box from her.

"Thanks," Bell said.

"Go get 'em," Syr grinned, patting him on the shoulder. Bell blushed, and thanked her once more. He left the restaurant.

He quickly ate his lunch, and headed towards the Dungeon. He was a little nervous, but fiercely determined to begin his journey. He soon arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon. All of the other adventurers had begun their daily expeditions into the caves, so he was alone at the entrance. He entered cautiously, and instinctively unsheathed his knife. He treaded carefully into the unknown.

After a little bit of wandering, he had only come across a few monsters that he was easily able to fend off, despite his limited fighting ability. He was in a dimly lit cave, and was about to head back, when a thunderous roar boomed directly behind him.

Bell froze in his tracks, and turned around slowly. A huge minotaur, wielding a battle ax, roared mightily, and swung ferociously at the unsuspecting adventurer. Adrenaline rushed through Bell's veins as he was filled with panic. He screamed in terror, and barely managed to duck under the blow.

Bell did the only thing he could think to do. Run.

Bell bolted away from the minotaur, and tore through the cave, not caring where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to be as far away from the beast as possible. He screamed as he ran, occasionally looking back to see the minotaur's face only a few feet away.

He blindly ran through the cave, until he had trapped himself in a dead-end.

With his back to the wall, Bell slid to the ground, letting out a small whimper. This was the end. His first day in the Dungeon, and his adventure was already over.

The minotaur stepped forward menacingly, holding the axe high above his head. Bell closed his eyes, and awaited death.

However, it never came. He heard a loud roar, and felt a hot liquid hit his face. He quickly opened his eyes, to find that the minotaur was gone. In his place was a young girl, bending over to look into his eyes. She held out a hand to him.

"Are you okay?"

Bell's sense of reality slipped away as he gazed into the golden eyes of his savior. A brilliant red blush flared on his cheeks. Bell was in another world, floating on clouds. His vision was lined with stars. His eyes were locked on her angelic gaze as she looked down upon him with concerned eyes. His conscious was being warmly enveloped and embraced by her aura.

"Are you okay?" she repeated. Reality hit him like a harsh black wave as Bell was torn away from the fantasy world he was in. Looking at the girl who had saved him, Bell could only conjure up one response. Run. And so he ran. Past his hero, past the caves, and past the tomb that could've been his eternal resting place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ummm… hisashiburi desu? Does anyone still read this? According to the stats apparently 20 people a day still read this, which is crazy to me! Anyway, here is Chapter 3. I'd like to think that there was at least one person on this planet who was waiting for it (let me know if you were waiting for this in a review!). Also, if you're a Danmachi fanfic author, feel free to contact me! Maybe add me to the secret discord you have (that's a joke lol). Make sure to leave a review telling me what you thought! Anyway, doozo!**

He had been staring at the same dot in the ceiling for a half an hour now. It kind of resembled a boar.

Bell was laying on his bed in the Twilight Manor. He felt ashamed, embarrassed, and incredibly pathetic. Not only was his first trip into the dungeon a complete failure, he had made a fool of himself in front of one of the highest ranking members of the Loki Familia, the Kenki Ais Wallenstein. Fantastic.

The scene kept replaying in his head. The huge snout roaring in his face. The brilliant flash of a well aimed sword. The sticky feeling of blood on his face. The beautiful rescuer with long, flowing blonde hair. And the failure of an adventurer he had been yesterday.

He wished he could hide in his room all day. But he knew he'd have to go downstairs, eat, see other people, and put up with the miserable amounts of humiliation he was about to be put through.

He slowly got out of bed, put on clothes, and trudged through the door. He made his way through the hallways, and eventually to the dining hall. After a quick scan, he noticed that none of the high ranking adventurers, specifically Ais, were present. He sighed in relief, and went to get his food.

He plopped down on a bench that was as far away from everyone else as possible.

He started eating, only to hear a familiar voice ring out behind him.

"Ais, hurry up!"

He cringed as he looked up. In came Tiona, Tione, a male werewolf, a young female elf, a majestic looking elf, and a prum male, in pajamas. And running to catch up to them was, of course, Ais Wallenstein. He quickly turned back to his breakfast and did his best to pay her no mind. The adventurers didn't even notice him as they went to get their breakfast.

Eventually, they all came back. And they sat down on the table right behind him.

'_Why would they sit so far away from everyone?' _Bell cried in his head.

He turned around for a quick peek, and his eyes widened.

Piles upon piles of every different breakfast food imaginable were in front of each of the adventurers present. The specific table they had chosen to sit at was actually wider to accommodate their insatiable appetite.

'_Being high ranking really does have its benefits,' _Bell thought.

"You need to stop training so late, Ais. I don't wanna wait for your stupid ass in the morning when I wanna eat!" the werewolf muttered.

"Shut up, Bete. Stop being such a grouch," Tiona mumbled, her mouth full of a piece of french toast.

"Don't insult Miss Ais!" the young elf demanded, "You should admire her dedication to improving and becoming stronger!"

"I don't wanna hear your bullshit, elf. Why are you even sitting here?" Bete growled at her.

"Bete, stop talking before I make you," threatened Tione.

"She does jack shit for our party! Last mission all she did was stand there cowering behind Ais…"

A huge thud on the table made Bell jump three feet out of his seat.

"Everyone stop fighting this instant!" the elf with the long green hair demanded loudly. Bete snorted and looked away. The fighting seemed to cease from there, and silence resumed.

Bell sighed, and continued eating.

"Why aren't there any roasted tomatoes," sighed Tiona.

"We ran out," the prum said.

"Speaking of tomatoes, did I tell you guys the story of what happened in the Dungeon yesterday?" Bete asked.

Ais shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"No?" Tione said.

"So we let a few minotaurs out onto the upper levels. When Ais and I were chasin' after one of the last ones, we split up. Ais ended up findin' and takin' care of it. Apparently some cocky Level 1 adventurer was on the level and was being chased by the minotaur. Ais stepped in and helped him out. Instead of thanking her, he ran away! He had blood all over his face. He looked like a fuckin' tomato!" Bete said, wheezing with laughter.

Everyone at the table laughed except for the high elf, the prum, and Ais. The elf was ignoring Bete still, and the prum looked at Bete with an incredulous face.

"Well, I don't think he can be blamed for that," someone said quietly. Bell couldn't tell who it was because he was already quietly escaping.

Before Bete could even begin to argue back, the elf glared at him with an icy cold glare.

Bell left the scene before he could hear anymore.

Once he was down the hallway, he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around, it was Tiona.

"Hey, I saw you sitting at that table. You got up and left, so I thought I'd come and talk to you," she said. Bell tried to put up a facade.

"Oh, there's no need, I was just going to…"

"You're the adventurer Bete was talking about, right?" Tiona interrupted.

Bell realized that him leaving the table made it incredibly obvious, and that there was no point in trying to deny it. He nodded, looking at his toes.

Tiona bent over to look at his face. Bell took a step back.

"You know, you're blowin' this way outta proportion. Ais doesn't have anything against you, nor does anyone else. However, if you continue to hide, run away, and refuse to make friends with anyone else, we'll start to have problems. Everyone makes mistakes. That's acceptable. Refusing to fix them, though, that's not acceptable," Tiona said.

Bell shifted his feet. He was starting to feel uncomfortable with her face so close to his.

She straightened up, and patted his head.

"Monsterphilia's comin' up tomorrow. Ais is going to be pretty busy up until then, but try and find her there and apologize. Ais is a kind girl; she won't hold any grudges." Tiona said.

Bell looked up. Tiona grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks, Tiona. I'll do that!" Bell said.

"Anyway, I have a mission with the others today. Good luck with your training!" Tiona said, running back towards the dining hall.

Bell's thoughts wandered to the upcoming Monsterphilia. It was an event where the Ganesha Familia brought up monsters from the dungeon. Then, they put on a show where trained adventurers slayed the beasts in front of a crowd. It was like a festival.

He could apologize to Ais there, maybe even spend time with her. His imagination floated away to cute dresses and nice, summery weather.

He was torn away from dreamland by a voice behind him.

"Hey, you. I need to speak with you in my room," the voice said. When Bell turned around, it was none other than Loki, the goddess of the familia.

Bell started sweating bullets.

"Don't crap your pants, it's nothin' bad," Loki said, walking away. Bell sighed in relief, and followed the goddess. They made their way through the manor until they arrived at Loki's room. She flung the doors open, and Bell followed apprehensively.

There was a package on her desk.

"This is for you," Loki said, handing it to him. It was a small beige box. He opened it, to reveal a sharp, black knife. Bell looked at it in awe, and turned it in his hands.

"Why?" Bell asked.

"Don't sweat the details. You're one of my adventurers, you need a weapon. That simple," Loki said. After that, she returned to her desk and began writing, so Bell assumed that was his cue to leave. He left the room, and shut the door behind him. As he was about to put the knife back into the package, hieroglyphs on the knife began to glow blue.

He held it up, but the light went away before he could read it. He put the knife back in the package confusedly, and left the manor.

Bell looked forward to going into the dungeon to test out his new knife.

_*the next day*_

Bell had finished eating breakfast, and Ais and friends were nowhere to be seen. Tiona was right: they must've their hands full with Monsterphilia coming up or something.

He was going to go have his status checked by Loki before getting ready for Monsterphilia. Once he was at the door, he knocked.

"Come in," Loki sighed, sounding a little exasperated.

Bell entered hesitantly, and Loki perked up a bit.

"I'm guessin' you want yer status checked, right?" Loki said.

"Yeah," Bell said.

"Come sit on this stool," Loki said. Bell took his shirt off, and sat on the stool. Loki pricked her finger, and undid the lock on his Status. Her eyes widened in amazement.

Bell heard her mutter to herself, but all he could discern was "... that much? … damn ... way over my prediction…"

She handed him his sheet. Bell gawked at it in amazement.

"Wh… wha. How?" Bell stuttered.

"No idea," Loki said, looking up and scratching her head. "You must got some special talent or somethin'. That's some pretty damn fast growth."

It didn't take much perception to see that she was lying about not knowing the cause of his growth. He wanted to know what the real reason was, but he wasn't about to start questioning his goddess.

"Thanks!" Bell said, leaving. He had to go shower, get new clothes, and prepare himself for Monsterphilia.

It only took a little over 10 minutes for Bell to be on his way out of the Twilight Manor and to the stadium where the event was held. After a bit of walking, small stands with food, games, and more started to line the streets.

Looking around, Bell felt a little foolish as he was the only person there who was alone. There weren't too many people around, but they all were accompanied by their friends.

Bell decided to not waste any time with food or games and decided to spend all of his energy trying to find Ais. From where he was right now, Monsterphilia was about a 20 minute walk away. However, he knew of a shortcut that would nearly halve that time. So, slipping into a dark alley, he decided to take that route. The farther he got from the stands, the more eerily silent it became. Water dripped down from the buildings, forming murky puddles on the pathway. He looked around warily, half expecting someone to jump out at him.

_I'm just being stupi…_

An ear-splitting roar rang out from behind him. Bell's heart jumped to his throat as he turned around, his new knife already in hand.

He couldn't see anything because the buildings were blocking his view, but he heard the yells of panicked citizens, the crashing of stands being crushed, and the roars of what seemed to be a monster.

_It couldn't be a monster, could it? Ganesha Familia has been doing this for years, there's no way they'd let a monster out!_

Suddenly, the sun was blacked out. Bell looked up, to see the massive snout of an ape. Drool dripped from its fangs as it glared at Bell. It was standing on top of a building, bending over to look at him. Before Bell could process what was happening, he was already running in the opposite direction.

_What the hell was that?_

Bell raced out of the alleyways, and back onto the main path. The monster tore after him. It leapt off the buildings and crashed onto the ground, sending a plume of dust everywhere. Bell still hadn't grasped what was happening, but when he did, he realized what a mistake he was making.

He was running away from a monster, again.

However, not only was he running away, he was leading the deadly beast through a populated area and putting everyone at risk. He had to stop the monster now, or people would seriously get hurt. He had to swallow his fears and stop running away.

He quickly turned around, before he realized that was a stupid move. The ape, who had already caught up to Bell, attacked him with a mighty swing of its fist. Bell barely got his arms up to block before he was sent crashing into a fruit stand. Grunting in pain, he stood back up. The monster was already upon him, bringing a fist down on him like a hammer.

Bell nimbly dodged out of the way, but the beast simply grabbed his leg, and flung him across the street. With a sickening thud, Bell hit the wall, and tumbled to the ground. He coughed weakly, and struggled to breathe again.

A small crowd had begun to form around the fight.

"What is going on?" an anxious mother asked.

"From what I've heard, several monsters escaped from the Ganesha Familia and are wreaking havoc currently. However, the Kenki's already taken care of three of them, so I assume she'll be here shortly," a man said.

No. Hell no. Not again.

He looked around, analyzing his surroundings. If he had any chance of winning, he'd have to use some sort of gimmick or trick, because there was no way he'd be able to take down the ape otherwise. Looking to his left, he noticed something interesting. A flash bomb was in the rubble of a stand. He suspected that a few foolish kids were thinking of pulling a prank during Monsterphilia, but never got around to it because of the monsters.

Grabbing the bomb and a few stones in his hands, he turned around. The beast was already running at him. He threw the stones at its face. They weakly bounced off the chest of the ape, who kept on charging.

Bell pulled the pin, and threw the flash bomb at the beast. He squinted as hard as he could, and waited for his opportunity. A second later, a brilliant flash of light burst out. Bell charged at the beast, and took his knife out of its sheath. The monster blindly kicked at Bell. He slid under its leg, and kicked out the beast's other leg. The ape fell to the ground with a roar.

Before the monster could get its bearings, Bell's knife was already plunged into its chest. With a last dying roar, the ape burst into black dust, leaving only a small magic stone behind.

Breathing heavily, Bell grinned to himself. He picked up the stone, and put it in his pocket. The small crowd that had gathered had begun to cheer.

"Good work, lad!"

"You thought fast on your feet!"

A small prum girl came up to him.

"Wow, you were incredible! The knife you have seems to be very well made," she complimented, "You must be able to go past the upper levels."

"Not really," Bell said, scratching his head, "I don't have a party or a supporter so I can't handle much on my own."

"This is perfect!" she chimed, "I'm a supporter and I was just looking for an adventurer! We should work together!"

"Uhhh… I don't know…" Bell started.

"Think about it, you'll be able to go deeper in the dungeon, fight stronger monsters, and level up faster!" she said.

"Ehh, I guess I can give you a chance," Bell resigned.

"Okay! Tomorrow at 10, I'll be waiting at the entrance to the dungeon!" she said. She ran off before Bell could refuse. He didn't even catch her name.

"Whatever," Bell muttered to himself. He was pretty sure that he fractured his shoulder blade when the beast threw him into the wall, and blood was trickling down from his forehead, so he decided it would be a foolish idea to go to the dungeon today.

Just as he was about to return home, two familiar faces approached. Ais was running towards him, with Loki trailing lazily behind.

"Where's the monster?" Ais demanded once she saw him. She seemed to be too focused to notice who he was.

"Oh, I uhh… I got rid of it…" Bell stuttered, looking away from Ais's pressing stare.

Ais seemed to snap out of her focus, and looked at him in surprise. She seemed to recognize him then. Only then did she notice the bruises, dirt, and blood. Bell was still breathing heavily, and his shoulder hung at an awkward angle.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fi…" Bell started. His consciousness slipped away, and he fell to the ground.


End file.
